Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Problem:Generally, why do some innovations succeed and others fail? Why the delay between invention and market acceptance of an innovation?Specifically, and in depth - how do consumers understand the value in new technology?And generally, how do consumers behave to assess, and communities make technology assessment decisions?

Value was found to be very multi-faceted. Over 80 value elements were found that compete against each other to assess value. These were compressed into 12 value dimensions. Four of these dimensions were agreed by 100% of interviewees. The remaining eight dimensions, were noted by between 1/3 and 2/3 of interviewees.

Value Dimensions are a continuum of opposites, with one end of the dimension increasing value, and the other end decreasing value. Value is sensitive to new information, and new information is assessed as to its impact on value dimensions, leading to a new value assessment. Some people prefer one end of the dimension, while others may prefer the other end. For instance, some prefer new things, others prefer what they know already, and don't like to change. Some people may take different positions for different things. Some prefer simple, others complicated. But value dimensions compete with each other - simplicity and function, price and reliability, beauty and community, privacy and knowledge.